Hero
by xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx
Summary: He was supposed to be her hero. The one who swept her off her feet. But instead, he used her. And now, kneeling in front of Artemis, she knew what she had to do. ONESHOT: Slight Zoë/Hercules.


_**Hero**_

_**By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx**_

__**AN: Yes, yes, I'm back AGAIN. With my 85th story! :) I'm happy; only 15 to go before 100!**

**I've been wanting to write something for Zoë for a while, but I never got around to it... Now, I finally have.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO/HoO or the song White Horse by Taylor Swift.**

* * *

><p><em>I'm not a princess<em>

_This ain't a fairytale_

_I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet, _

_Lead her up the stairwell_

* * *

><p>Her heart aches.<p>

She knows she wants to do this—to let everything go, to forget about the past. She just wants to forget him, leave him behind. She wants never to speak of his name again.

It hurts to speak of his name.

All she can think about is him. It's _always _him. He was the one she fell—so hard—for; he was the one who betrayed her. He was the one who turned his back on her, and _forgot her_. He acted as if she had never existed. Because of him, she was disowned. Forgotten. Blotched from memory.

He promised her that, if she helped him, he would marry her. He promised her that someday, they we be married with beautiful children. He said he would treat her as if she was the fairest goddess. He said she could come with him. They could be together, forever.

_He lied._

She should've known that he was lying. After all, isn't that what all heroes do? They lie. They make a girl fall for them, then they leave her behind in the dust. They use girls. They use their handsome demigod charm to woe a woman into doing their will. They betray. They lie. They use.

And, sad to say, she actually fell for one of those heroes' lies.

He abandoned her. He had promised her a new home, because surely, her father would be rid of her the moment he found out about her treason. _He _left her behind, and went around, speaking of his oh-so marvelous glory, without a single mention of how _she _aided him. She waited for him to come back for her. He never did.

She was punished. Thrown out of the Garden, forgotten, thrown out into the streets, all because of him. She had lost everything. A home, clothes, her family—_everything_. All because of her foolish choice to help a _hero_.

Some hero he is.

She wandered aimlessly for days, starving and exhausted, trying to find someone—_anyone_—who could help her. No one would. No one cared about a mere teenage girl. Her life only went downhill from there. It just so happened, that a few days—probably a little over a week—after she had been thrown out of her home, she was captured by slave traders, and sold to a rich, but cruel man by the name of Ampelios. **[1]**

Three, long, hard months she spent at his household before she managed to run away. It was a daring, but foolish endeavor. If she was caught, she would be killed, or punished severely. If she managed to find a home, then her life might get better. It was either one or the other. Death, or a good life.

She ran across a band of girls along the way—the Hunters of Artemis, they called themselves. They were a group of girls—demigods, nymphs, and mortals alike—that had sworn to stay away from men and serve Lady Artemis, in exchange for an eternal sisterhood with the goddess and the other Hunters.

They offered for her to join them.

She was being offered a new life—never again would she be hurt or betrayed by a man. She could be free of men. She could be free of men like _him_.

She wanted to say yes. She wanted to take their offer. She knew that's what she wanted—to be rid of the pain that he had caused her. Lady Artemis offered her a new life, and she wanted so badly to take it.

She decided that she would accept the offer.

He was supposed to be her hero. The one who swept her off her feet, the one who she would someday marry. The one who would love her and hold her. But instead, he used her. And now, kneeling in front of Artemis, she knew what she had to do.

Lady Artemis said the oath—the oath that would forever bind her to the goddess—and with one last thought of him, she repeated the words:

"I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt."

* * *

><p><strong>Well, I think Zoë's a bit OOC. I mean, I think she becomes like how she is over the years. Bitter, a bit angry, headstrong. Right now, she's a bit scared of what's going to happen. She's alone, rejected, etc. Yeah, so a bit OOC there. <strong>

**I hope you enjoyed!**


End file.
